Behold the Independence

I've got a lot going on at NTYC HQ at the moment, so I'm going to start my 4th of July holiday a couple days early. In the meanwhile, all of you lucky stiffs who actually get the day off while the rest of us are working, go out and see Ratatouille and Live Free Or Die Hard. I can't say any more about Transformers because I don't know any more about Transformers, but I know it'll be at the top of my list when I come back. And in refresh, renew, recycle news, both Jericho and Eureka, two of my favorite shows, are both restarting their runs starting with episode one in the next week or two. Check local listings. Both are well worth your time. Enjoy your fireworks and I'll see you on the other side.

Bald is Beautiful: Live Free Or Die Hard

Not just anyone could direct a big time summer movie, much less an action movie, much less a long anticipated sequel in a popular franchise. And for attempting such a thing while not falling on his face, Len Wiseman, creator of the Underworld series, is to be commended. But as to whether he was up to the challenge...

I'm skirting the edge of hardcore cinephile talk here, drifting into the dreaded topic of cinematography, but I must push on. Anyone who has seen the Underworld movies knows that Len likes to work in the dark. I thought it was because his movies were about vampires, but it turns out that's what he likes. Rarely have I seen a movie set in the summer and mostly outside, with such a palette of blacks, grays and blues. Every skin tone is washed out, everything is dingy and does this sound like a Die Hard movie to you? It's not a deal killer, but it still strikes the wrong tone to me.

As for the rest of the movie, I really enjoyed it. It is a big time, high energy, big budget with money on the screen summer explosion fest with an actual plot and real characters. I don't know whether it's up to what would be considered the Die Hard level of quality, but it's way better than Lethal Weapon 4. It gets a little navel gazing when they try to figure out what makes John McClane do what he does, why he is the way he is, but it's short and sweet and doesn't have you psychoanalyzing his every move from there on out. It's an action flick at a time when people have forgotten how to make them, and it's one you won't leave feeling pleasure that must be described as guilty.

But I still wish he had hair.

Crippler Cut Down

I don't talk about this much on the site, but in years past I was a huge pro wrestling fan. I watched religiously for years before getting worn out. But I still keep an ear open for the goings on inside the squared circle. So it was with shock and dismay that today I learned of the death of one of my all time favorite wrestlers Chris Benoit. It's probably not a name many outside the sport have heard of. He wasn't an actor, he didn't do cameos and only rarely showed up in commercials. But for those in the know, the fans, marks and smarks, he was one of the best. He was first and finally a wrestler. It's all he wanted and it's all he did. He had a twenty year career doing a job he was born to do. He was one of the rare talents that not only looked amazing, but made his opponent look just as good. I got a chance to see him perform live and it was spectacular. When I first met the woman I would later marry, I got her into wrestling and the two of us spent many hours watching the shows and going to the live events. She and I both spent the evening in shock at such a terrible loss. You can find out more about Chris and his career here at his Wiki page. He was only 40. If heaven has a wrestling ring, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero will be putting on a quite a match tonight.

Certainly not Purgatory: Evan Almighty

First off, it's not funny. Already we're off to a bad start. Those who go in expecting a big time, high energy summer comedy will be sorely disappointed. In that category, which the first film would be right at home in, this comes across as the most dour feel good film I can recall. I think somewhere along the line, someone got their Bible stories crossed.

Most people know the story of Noah, at least the basics. And for the scholars out there, this film follows the popular story, not the accurate one. They're still stuck on the whole two of every animals thing, as opposed to the 7 of every clean and 2 of every unclean. But that's moot at this point. The bigger question is why are there animals, and why so many different types. The idea in the original story was that this was the only way to preserve the animals for after the deluge. Here, the animals just show up and hang out. But it's a wide spectrum, exotic types that would have no business being in the Washington, D.C. area. If this was zoo animals from the area, or even people's pets, it would be fine. But here the animals just show up because that's the story.

To me, the story rings not so much as Noah, who was one of the big "Whatever you say God." kind of figures, but closer to Job and therein lies the problem. With Bruce, you got a lot of comedy because you have a regular guy who got the power, excuse me, THE POWER and used it to do stupid, selfish, and especially funny things. Here we have a guy who doesn't want to do this job and is punished and humiliated into doing it. Along the way, he loses his job, his looks, his standing in the community and finally even his family abandons him. Sound like a recipe for summer fun. It seems like he does the job mostly because all other choices have been taken from him.

But I still liked the film. Confused? Here's what I mean. If you take this as a very separate taste from Bruce Almighty, if you look at it as a dramedy, it's actually pretty good. Their stuff about family and faith and trust are all really interesting and very well done. Steve Carell in particular carries the dramatic stuff with aplomb. And the final, and reportedly very expensive, final flood sequence, is actually cool. If you can get past the vast amount of animal poop jokes, it's a smart flick and more Morgan Freeman = better flick. My favorite scene is when Evan is telling God he can't build an ark because he has too much planned, and God can't stop laughing. Think about that for a second, I'll wait. That's great comedy right there. No, it's not big time summer comedy, but it's a smart movie about faith, and that's pretty rare.

Anticipating Evan Almighty

I've got a bad feeling. I hope I'm wrong. I really want this one to be the one, but I'm just not getting that vibe. I think the idea of making a franchise (The Almighty trilogy?) is a solid one, casting a new comic actor each time. And the cast and crew are full of people I adore, from Steve to Lauren Graham to John Michael Higgins or creatively from Steve Oedekerk to Shadyac to one of the Coen brothers. All top talents. But I've got a feeling this one got away from them. Part of the problem is that, in general, I don't think comedic sequels are a good idea. Most of them end up sucking. There are a few examples out there, I'm sure, but none are coming immediately to mind. Every one I think of is awful. Already, it's a hard fight. Plus adding in kids, animals and a vast amount of special effects. I'm not a big fan of the ads either. They seem to be focusing more on the CGI animals than on any jokes. That could be a good thing, as they're leaving the funny for a surprise. Or it could be the CGI is the best thing in the movie. I really want this to be great, as I don't want to see Steve Carell's career take the hit. If it does, I pray it doesn't drive him to drama. We don't need another Patch Adams.

Sneaky like a rat: Ratatouille

I managed to catch a sneak preview of Pixar's latest film this past weekend. I'm going to keep it light here, with a more in depth discussion once the movie is closer to release. The short of it all is yes you should absolutely see it. In terms of Pixar's work, of depth of storytelling, of pushing the envelope of what an animated film can accomplish, it's well worth your admission. I'm just not sure if you should take the kiddies.

I'm not saying it's an adult feature, with questionable content and racy wordage. It's just that the story they tell is a very complex, very adult one and while extremely funny and with great sight gags, it's a much more mature film than, say, Cars. It's also a bit arm's length. It doesn't hit you with the emotion like much of their previous work. I'm still trying to figure out where exactly that misstep occurred. And it's not just me. The wife is fully feeling those wacky pregnancy hormones, so if it didn't hit her, it didn't hit. But it's quite a marvel of a film. This might have their finest vocal performances ever. Every character is a character first and an actor second. Pixar has always been the best at this, and this is the best of the best. It's quite a masterwork, but I just don't see it going out as wide as their previous stuff. But we'll talk more in a week or so...

And another thing: Fantastic Four 2, part 2

Spoilers ahead while I dish some dirt. I've got two major problems with FF2 and then one thing that worked fabulously well. And the first issue I have is with Jessica Alba.

I'm not going to tear her down. She's an actor of fairly limited range and when given a part of limited scope, she fades. And the part is written terribly. It's not entirely the screenwriters fault. Historically, Sue Storm has been a bit of a wilting violet. She's clashed with Reed on numerous occasions, usually with thought balloons like "Why won't he pay attention to me like he does that Negative Zone projector?!" In the latest animated series, in her first scene when finding out Johnny had been kidnapped by aliens, she faints. Wow. That's girl power right there. But in the movie, it's worse. She's a totally different character since the first one. In that, she's angry, deluded but ultimately willing to take whatever she can get from Reed. In the second, she had become flighty, self obsessed and incredibly short sighted. The U.S. Government shows up asking Reed for help with all the bizarre weather phenomenon that is being caused by a being from space. It's threatening the lives of people around the globe. But when Reed tells them to take care of it themselves because he's planning his wedding, she turns with a look of love and we're supposed to be on her side. I'm sorry, but Sue dear, can you get past you and your little problems for five minutes while your husband saves the world? And when she finds out he's been working on the project behind her back, she's not even mad. Is it bad writing or is she just psycho? Either way, she's the worst written character in the movie, a paper tiger who tries to make everything about her. Oh, for the power of Joss or James Cameron.

And then there are the terrible, terrible lies. In the post production process, one of the FX techs leaked a story that the great world destroyer, one of the most iconic characters in the Marvel Universe, in the FF2 movie would be represented by a cloud. The planet eater that galaxies stand in dread of would be a spaceborn dust storm. The internets went nuts. This confirmed what everyone had been dreading, that the filmmakers were totally out of touch and stomping all over the source material. But the Fox execs were quick to put out the fire, saying that this was preliminary concept art and there's no way they would make him a cloud and everything would be fine. Movie premieres and guess what? He's a cloud. A big cloud with a hand of smoke. Would it have worked if he was a big guy in purple armor or a swarm of space bugs? I don't know. But I know I spend the whole time watching it going, 'So he's in the cloud? No, he's in his ship which the cloud is surrounding. No, he's taken the form of a cloud and then he'll solidify. But no, he's a collection of visible space vapor that the Surfer blows away with his space wind. Who thought that was a good idea? But it's the lies that get to me. That Fox flat out, bald faced lied to the fans to get their opening weekend. I've got the fanimosity.

Then we've got Johnny Storm. Rarely have I seen a character so perfectly translated. This is what's amazing. On the one hand you've got Jessica Alba in a bad wig and terrible contacts looking unhealthily skinny but she's accurate the the comics and it ends up awful. On the other hand you've got a relatively unknown actor who's too old for the role, wrong eye and hair color and he totally nails it. He is 100% Johnny Storm. There's not a moment in the movie that I didn't think, "Hey, there's the Human Torch!" He's having a good time, he screws around and messes things up and his powers look perfect on screen. Forgive me, but he lights up every scene he's in. If the movie works at all (which for many it didn't) it's first by Chris Evans, second by Chiklis, third by Doug Jones, then by everyone else. I'm pulling for a Human Torch movie before a Surfer movie.

Second Time Charmed: Fantastic Four 2

Before we begin, first let's assign the Fantastic Four movies to their proper category. This is not an A-list superhero movie. It's not fair to compare it to films like Batman Begins, Superman Returns, Spider-Man or X2. It's not in the same league, lesser stars, lesser crew. It's closer to Blade, Ghost Rider, Catwoman, Punisher. (Forgive me. I'm only using two categories tonight.) That said, I would have to give the award to most improved to FF2.

To be sure, it's still an FF movie. The plot is threadbare, Jessica Alba gets naked again for no good reason other than to see Jessica Alba naked (and no, making a joke out of it doesn't make it right), too many wacky gags and unpolished dialogue. Oh, and Doom still sucks. You can write a character smart, but unless you get the right actor... But let's talk about the good. The effects are very much improved. Even if they use them for the occasional stupid joke, at least they use their powers. And use them and use them and use them. It's the casual stuff that makes it work for me, like Iceman cooling Wolverine's soda in X2. FF2 got a handful of those moments . The Surfer is cool and alien and mysterious and not worthy of a sequel. I've got my issues, most of which I'll discuss in a later posting, but overall I enjoyed it. I got caught up a few times and I really felt the pressure as they kept raising and raising and raising the stakes. Even the jingoistic, stereotypical military hardass worked when you saw what he had to work with. It's not a great film, but it is heads and tails over the first one and a good example of how to improve in a second outing. But please, please don't have Namor show up in three. Please? Wings on his feet? Not gonna fly.

The Final Case Of Veronica Mars

The plug has finally been pulled. The CW confirmed that any and all incarnations of Veronica Mars are now totally and completely dead. Fans had been working on a similar campaign like the Jericho Nuts campaign (with Mars bars of course) but all for naught. Show creator Rob Thomas is talking about a movie, but that's a whole new fight. And he doesn't have a former friendly network exec now working at a studio who recognizes his talent like our Joss did. Am I saddened by this? Sure, but two great seasons are quite the blessing. Dark Angel only got one right. It was amazing they even made the jump to The CW. But once there, I think the wheels fell off the wagon. It was trying to be broad when it worked best as smart and small. But that was the price they paid for making the switch. I am sorry when any collection of amazing talent is disbursed, but I'd hate to see the show I once loved get twisted any further by the attempt to make it more mainstream. Thank you for carrying the strong, sassy female lead torch for a time Ms. Mars. You held it with pride and you were left with no one to pass it onto.

IT'S A GIRL!No, she's not born yet, but this is a close approximation of what my future daughter will look like. We found out today that we are the parents of a baby girl. Health and all is A-OK and we are go for launch at the scheduled time. I'm going to have my own little Leia (that my wife will never allow me to dress like this). I'm pleased as punch. I can't wait to meet daddy's little girl.

Anticipatory: Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer

I have to say I'm looking forward to the latest FF outing. And that surprises me. The last one wasn't merely a bad movie. What was troubling about it, was that it seemed like not one person involved in the project had any real interest in the characters. It was a most mercenary of projects. Say what you will about Ghost Rider, and much could be said, but you could never say that Nic Cage wasn't 100% committed and excited to be Johnny Blaze. I never got that impression from anyone involved with Fantastic Four. Not screenwriters, not actors, not directors. It was a movie that was made because it was the next Marvel movie to make. No love, just a paycheck. And it shows. Chris Evans seems to be the only one who's having a good time, and he ends up as the best part of the movie. Next would be my man Michael Chiklis. He did an amazing job, but you could see that he was suffering in that suit. Less said about the rest, the better.

And now we come to the return. It seems to me that a new energy has infected the group. Part of this comes from the story they are telling. I've been saying that it's a shame that everyone in Hollyweird seems to love origin stories because they keep making them despite the fact that they are usually the worst. It's a story we all know, and all too well. But now they have a chance to get past the 'This is who I am, this is my personal angst and these are my powers' stage into the totally cutting loose part. It looks like more fun and the Surfer looks amazing. Besides the dulcet tones of Fishburne for his voice, his body is performed by Doug Jones, physical performer extraordinaire. I don't expect this to be high drama. But it looks quick and fun and very pretty. I don't need Spider-Man 2 but I also don't want X-Men: The Last Stand. We'll find out in a couple of days.

Penguins, ad infinitum: Surf's Up

My biggest worry going into the latest animated feature was their gimmick. To differentiate themselves from other movies, specifically ones about penguins, the filmmakers chose to make the film as if it was a documentary about the events. It's shot with focus problems, the voice of an interviewer, testimonials, the whole lot. It's a clever idea. But thinking about it, I figured it was going to go one of two ways: they would either abandon their fresh idea after the opening or they would totally embrace it and thus lose the casual moms and dads who don't want their animated features too smart. But in the end, it was really more of the former.

Instead, at various times they would sort of forget they were shooting a documentary and then suddenly remember. The main character Cody loses a surfing challenge and goes off into the woods to recover/sulk. As he's recovering, the movie becomes traditional with multiple angles during a conversation and the like. But when a vital piece of information is uncovered, suddenly one of the characters realizes the cameras are there and tries to hide from them. Unfortunately, they use the exact same look for the 'movie' cameras and the 'documentary' cameras so the effect can be a bit disorientating.

I'm probably over thinking it. The movie itself is cute, smart and has some fantastic performances. The story is rather simplistic and overdone and pretty much what you think it is from the trailers, that's what it is. The animation is strong and the characters are distinct. Overall, I had a good time. But it's slight and won't win any accolades from the critics or the people. But if you need to see a movie about surfing penguins, this is the surfing penguin movie to see. I can only hope this puts the whole penguin phenomenon on ice. Pun unfortunate, but intended.

Third time, charming: Ocean's Thirteen

How do I love them? I won't bore you by counting the ways. And now we come to part three, which for my money is just as good as the previous two films. Yes, I liked the entire trilogy. For some reason, people tend to hate on the second part, and I can understand to a certain extent. The three movies, while having some similarities in terms of plot, are actually structured very differently. In the first, we meet the characters, watch them putting their plan into action, encounter some hurdles along the way which were actually part of the plan and finally get the reveal where we find out we only got to see half of the story. The second is set up with the team on the offensive, having to make things up as they go along, but the difference is that while they are pulling one over on their nemesis, they are doing the same to the audience. Seems that we were left out of a bit of business which shows that the heist was not quite what it appeared. But this annoyed people because the filmmakers had pulled one over on the audience, not let us in on the action like the first. But those problems are solved in the third outing, we know the plan right from the start and we follow each team member as they enact their part. It's good fun, good laughs and doesn't get so 'inside' as the last one. That Julia/Bruce Willis stuff almost killed that movie. This one does what these movies do best, it shows you a great tale from these characters lives. You get the impression they've done really cool stuff before the movies start and will continue to do so after. It's a nice feeling as opposed to most where you are witnessing the most exciting thing that will ever happen to this person. Great stuff, big time movie fun. I'm only sad that this'll be the end but at least they went out with their heads held high.

Nuts Works!

It's rare that I get to comment on fantastic news, but today is a good day. For once, the fans rose up against corporate tyranny and made a difference. That's right ladies and gentlemen,

JERICHO LIVES!

For those of you not in the know, here's how the caper came down. Jericho came out of the gate strong and was pretty much neck in neck with Heroes for the highest rated new show of the season. But then something happened. They decided, as many shows did this last TV season, to take a break in the middle and come back with a unbroken string of new episodes. They came back, but a couple million viewers did not. But CBS had committed and played out the whole season only to cancel the show after its stunning cliffhanger. That should be the end. But then came the nuts.

Never underestimate the power of the geek horde. In the final episode, the lead character Jake tells a story of his grandfather in WWII, who when stuck with his men behind enemy lines, surrounded, without food and with little chance of rescue, was asked by the German commander to surrender. His reply: "Nuts!" Taking this to heart, the fans of Jericho responded to the cancellation of their show by sending nuts to CBS execs. By sending a LOT of nuts to CBS. A website that tracked all the orders says that the total poundage of nuts sent was over 20 tons. And CBS got the message. You can read the full announcement HERE, but the upshot is this: in the midseason, we'll be getting 7 more episodes of the best apocalyptic show ever. If we're super lucky, they'll be more after that. But at the very least, they can wrap up their story. Now, who's up for sending Mars bars to the CW?

Off The Reservation: On The Lot

Mr. Mysterioso asked if I was watching Fox's new reality show and what I thought of it. And the answer: no, I'm not. The knee jerk quick reaction would be to say I don't watch any reality shows, and that's true. But this one is about filmmakers actually practicing their craft and The Spielberg is involved. When I first heard about it, I was interested. Maybe this would actually show people practicing their talent and having to tell stories in a timely fashion. On paper, it sounds great. In practice, not so much.

I could blame Fox, so I guess I will. What we got, and I picked this up from numerous articles and online reviews, is just another reality show. Each of the contestants were talking about how they were the best and what they were going to do to eliminate the competition. You get the Idol-esque voting thing, assuring not that talent will out, but instead popularity and excess drama. Yeah, just another reality competition. The final death knell for me came when they revealed the 'Hollywood insiders' who would judge the competition. Brett Ratner, Garry Marshall and Carrie Fisher. Wow. A hack, a has-been and a...hussy. I kid. About Carrie Fisher, that is. At least she'd tell it like it is. Sure Garry might have great stories, but as for advice? Unless he's slogging for someone to pass his lucrative Princess Diaries franchise onto, or he's sending them back to the 1970's, what kind of tips will he have? *impending Hollywood inside joke approaching* That they should cast Hector Elizondo in every movie they do? And Ratner? Follow his advice and you might just get success, but do we need another Ratner? We seem to have one too many. But who knows, maybe quality will out. But I doubt it. Either way, I'm not watching.

In Like: Knocked Up

I wish I was in love with the movie like everyone else seems to be. It's not that I disliked it. I enjoyed it very much. It was one of the better comedies I've seen. And it deserves a place in the lauded pantheon of Judd Apatow's work. But as it is, I liked it, but I didn't love it.

And I don't quite get why. It seems to be that I would be the perfect audience for this movie. Besides the fact that I'm about the same age as the writer/director, have seen and loved everything he's ever done, I'm also going through what the movie is about RIGHT NOW. And yet, I wasn't with it. Part of the problem was that I expected a very different movie. What I saw in the trailers was that this was a movie about a couple who unexpectantly get pregnant and go through the wacky world of birthin' babies while getting to know each other. That would have been a great movie. I though it would be a majority of baby jokes. I was wrong. It runs about 75% relationship stuff/25% baby stuff. And, you know. I've already seen the movie about the couple who gets pregnant and then tries to start a relationship. It starred Matthew Perry and was called Fools Rush In. And it sucked. I don't need to go through that again.

While the movie is funny, even very funny at times, it's also widely uneven with a number of subplots that either get ignored or stop momentum cold. Whenever the dudes who all live together with The Guy are on screen, the movie is fun and silly and strange. But when we get to The Girl's opposite numbers, it's dull and cliched and hackneyed. In other comedy couple news, I've been annoyed that ever since she lost her job, Bill Lawrence's wife has been screwing up Scrubs with all her appearances which drag to show to a stop. Well guess what? Judd loves his wife so much that he made her third lead. And apparently all she can play is a bitch. I think she might have had more screen time than Katherine Heigl. I know she had more than Paul Rudd, and that's just wrong.

I'm complaining probably more than I should, but that's mostly due to dashed hopes. I loved The 40 Year Old Virgin and I hoped this would be as good. I am the target market for the film, how could it fail? I still had a great time, and really liked most of the characters. I'll own it on DVD where I can zip past the scenes that fall flat and get to the really good stuff. It's good for a laugh, but not good for much else.